Salford deny any wrongdoing

3rd September 2013

Salford City Reds insist they have not broken any rules during their recent hectic transfer activity.

The Rugby Football League said on Tuesday it will examine allegations brought by Super League rivals Wakefield Trinity Wildcats that the City Reds made illegal approaches to "three or four" of their contracted players.

Wildcats coach Richard Agar claimed in the wake of his club's sale of scrum-half Tim Smith to the City Reds at the weekend that Salford had also directly made contact with other players at Wakefield.

"We notified the Rugby (Football) League quite a while ago about this," Agar said.

"They will deny it and there is a third-party agent working for them but I know that players under contract have been approached.

"That's a disappointing mode of operation. We know certain things go on but sometimes there are ways and means of doing things."

Salford swooped for Smith as part of their major squad rebuilding under wealthy owner Marwan Koukash, who has called a press conference on Thursday to announce details of a rebranding of the club and to unveil a host of new signings.

A spokesman for the RFL said an investigation would be launched once the Wildcats provide the evidence to support their claim.

"Once we receive that evidence, our compliance unit will begin an investigation," the spokesman said.

But a Salford spokesman said the club were confident they would be cleared by any investigation.

"We are content the club has acted openly and honestly in all of its transactions and followed the correct procedures and will continue to do so," said the spokesman.

Meanwhile, the RFL is continuing its investigation into an allegation that newly-crowned league leaders Huddersfield Giants made an illegal approach for Bradford Bulls prop Craig Kopczak towards the end of last season.

The Giants were cleared of any wrongdoing following Bradford's initial complaint but the RFL re-opened its investigation after conflicting evidence surfaced during a recent court case in which Keith Mason successfully sued Huddersfield for wrongful dismissal.